By Pamela Fisher
My first week back on the beat, I checked in to see how our local theatre companies are surviving the dot-com blowout. Everything’s coming up roses over at Hillbarn Theatre, says Lee Foster, executive director and the self proclaimed “money guy.”
“We increased our bottom line 89 percent this year and our subscriber base and audience has grown 40 percent in the last year,” she exulted. “And the city of Foster City just gave us $30,000 to redo the roof.”
Owning a theatre is both a bane and a blessing for a theatre company. When an aging facility needs a new roof or furnace, the season ticket revenue doesn’t go far after show rights, sets and costumes. The enterprising Foster has cooked up a fundraising cabaret slated for November to raise the roof and revive the heating system.
Hillbarn is one of the last Peninsula companies to have its own theatre. Peninsula Center Stage sold the Fox Theatre in Redwood City in 1998 when repair and renovation costs for the vintage theatre began draining the company budget dry. Broadway by the Bay (formerly PCLO), Peninsula Center Stage/Palo Alto Players, Theatre Works and the Menlo Players Guild all juggle shows and set load in schedules with their performance facility’s other events when they rent a stage. Pacifica Spindrift Players has a long-term 99 year lease on the city-owned Crespi Theatre while Foothill Musical Theatre commandeers the home stage at Foothill College.
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